Jack and the Siren
by Violet Moore
Summary: A young fire-wielding siren works in Mad Moxxi's arenas until everything goes wrong and she unexpectedly attracts the attention of the most powerful man on Pandora. Is he really the monster everyone thinks or can even Handsome Jack be capable of love? Set shortly before the events of Borderands 2, slight AU.
1. Chapter 1

Helloooo readers! This is my first every fan fiction, newly updated. I was looking around one day for some fan fic about Handsome Jack's personal life, and well, I didn't find much! So I decided to fill in the gap myself. (if you know of any good ones, I'd be delighted if you'd point me in the right direction). Thank you so much for reading this first chapter and I would love some feedback to help me improve. Please be kind as I am totally new to this! Happy reading :-)

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Moxxi scrutinized Mary in a way that made her squirm in the remains of her scorched tank top and ragged jeans.

"I'm not sure if you have what it takes." She scanned Mary up and down. "You're a pretty little thing, but you're as green as the grass that never grows around here, I'd hate to see you get squashed like scag pup out there."

"Please Moxxie. I have to earn some money. I know I could fight in your arenas. Maybe if I had a little practice first, I can show you what I can do?" Mary held out her hand, a little flame licked out of the palm, she raised her hand to her mouth and blew the flame towards Moxxi's face like she was blowing her a kiss.

She gasped and dodged it so it just singed her hair. "That's what I am talking about sweetie! I guess you can come and fight in my arenas. With your spunk, maybe you'll be a natural. People sure would pay through their noses to see a gorgeous little siren like you lighten' people on fire."

Mary sighed with relief. She knew she wasn't quite as green as she looked. She had been orphaned on Pandora three years ago when her powers started to form, and had been struggling to survive the harsh environment every since. It wasn't easy making her way from town to town across the badlands fighting off scags and bullymongs that would love to gobble her up. Not to mention the bandits. She had occasionally found safety in a few bandit camps that had been in awe of flame wielding talents and would feed her and give her shelter in exchange for burning up a few of their enemies. Killing psychos and marauders had become her primary source of income, why not continue it in the arenas? It would probably be safer and pay better.

So began Mary's new life as a fighter. Moxxi insisted she call herself Celosia, which meant "aflame" and provided her with an eye catching outfit of flaming red and orange that complimented her white skin and blue siren markings. She loved her new flashy look and relished the attention she received as she rose threw the ranks as a competitor. She soon become a local favorite, it wasn't really a challenge. After all, not many people could stand up to a siren, even one as green as Celosia. She was slowly starting to put aside some money to find herself her own home, perhaps a place with the vault hunters, or better yet, a ship off this armpit of a planet.

Late one night, after the fights were done, Celosia was exhausted and irritable. She wanted a few hours alone to read and rest. But on that night, a wealthy smuggler from off world spotted her making her way back to the little cabin Moxxi rented to her, just outside the arena. Celosia had just began to settle in. She filled her tub with hot water and began to undress, looking forward to washing away the grime, blood, and ash that she was always coated in after a fight. Suddenly the greasy, drunken smuggler kicked in her door and grabbed her from behind. He stabbed her in the side, then roughly turned her around and punched her in the stomach, followed by a kick sending her to the floor. As he climbed over her and started unbuttoning his pants, she held up her hand and a blast of flame came out and within seconds he was roasting on the floor and disintegrating into ashes.

She had to get out of there before Moxxi found out that one of her wealthiest patrons needed to vacuumed up of the floor. She knew Moxxi would not take kindly to finding out that he attempted to molest one of her employees. With Moxxi's fiery temperament Celosia knew she would want revenge and when the smuggler's crew found out he had been murdered, there could be a clan war. She paused just long enough to slip into a clean set of clothes and took nothing but her favorite pistol with her as she left the room. She looked back just to snap her fingers, sending the whole room up in flames to hid any evidence of who might be dead in there. As she ran, she suddenly heard a loud explosion and turned just in time to see a row of explosive barrels stored not far from her house ignited by a stray spark. The went off like a ship's cannon fire and she gasped in horror as one slammed in the dome of the arena, sending it up in flames. The smoke brought the attention of the marauders who worked for Moxxi but Celosia was long gone by the time they arrived at the scene.

She didn't know where to go, she was afraid to return to Moxxi after what just happened. She had been with Moxxi for the last four years and hadn't done well very on her own before that. She drifted from town to town, bar to bar, doing what she knew best. Using her flames to fight, collecting bets, and occasionally someone would pay her to kill someone for them. She dreamed of one day finding Roland or one of the other vault hunters. She hoped they might have more permanent work for someone with her talents.

One day, she walked into a bar in a new town and find Moxxi behind the counter. She started, and froze. Moxxi put her hand on her hip, "You have been such a naughty girl, disappearing like that after what you did to my dome! When that good-for nothing money bags disappeared, his crew came and trashed everything that was left, looking for evidence that I had murdered him. They were sure that was his body in your cabin, they found his gun only half charred up under your night stand. Why I should murder right here on the spot after the trouble you put me through!" Celosia noticed the butt end of a gun protruding from Moxxi's cleavage.

"What you should do is think twice before threatening a siren." She fondled a ball of fire in her hand as she stared Moxxi down."

"I may not be able to shoot flames out of my ass but more powerful people then you can imagine owe me favors, you'd be dead before dark if I put a hit out on you." Moxxi grinned.

"Well, I may be dead before dark, but you'd be a pile of ashes all the same. Or I could just scorch your tits off, or perhaps your pretty little mouth. How would you make a living without those? I guess you wouldn't be owed quite so many favors after that." Celsoia grinned right back.

"Alright you little witch thing, I'll look the other way for now." Moxxi suddenly burst out laughing and clambered over the counter throwing her arms around Celosia.

"Hell, am I glad to see you alive, and I can't believe you survived all this time by yourself, with all the trouble you seem to get into." Moxxi shook her head and then sauntered back behind the bar.

A drunken man stumbled towards Celosia. "Hey there sugar tits, you wanna let me have a taste of you?" He grabbed her butt and opened his mouth as he leaned in, blasting her with breath that reeked like a bullymong pile. "Ugh!" Celosia squirmed out of his grasp and with a flick of her wrist sent him flying out through a window with a ball of flames. He got up bloody and scorched and screaming and ran off as fast as he could manage.

"Are you determined to burn down every one of my establishments!" Moxxi cried. "I guess my dome wasn't enough." She sure could change her tune in a second, Celosia marveled, thinking it was about time for her to go before she really did burn down the bar. She supposed Moxxi did have good reason to consider that a posiblilty.

Celosia took a deep breath and just as she was turning to finally leave, a tall, slim figure rose out of the shadows behind the slot machines.

"Well that was quite a show." His voice echoed with self-importance and the bar hushed. "I think I kinda like you. You're a pretty little thing. Almost as pretty as me, and well that's high praise."

She stopped and stared. She definitely recognized that face. It was a face no one could forget. Not that he would let anyone on Pandora forget anyways. It was plastered on every bill board all across that armpit of a planet. Handsome Jack. Whether or not he was ever actually handsome, was hard to tell, considering his face was actually a mask, covering what Celosia had always assumed must be horrible scars.

Normally, anyone who talked to her like that would already be brushing the ashes off their bodies and hoping they still had hair. But something about Handsome Jack didn't trigger her usual flammable temperament. She let her eyes scan him up and down. Even with the mask, there was something intriguing about him. The cocky way he stood, the fit of his suit, the white streak in his burgundy hair, his piercing eyes, one blue, one green, his smug grin. She felt drawn to him like she had never felt before with anyone. She stepped closer to him, their eyes met.

Everything was quite, for a moment, and then everyone seemed to realize that she wasn't about to make Jack burst into flames and he wasn't about to put a bullet in her head, so they went back to their drinking and gossiping and someone turned on the jukebox.

"I like this song." Celosia breathed as she moved a little closer to the infamously insane president of Pandora. "Dance with me." She wasn't really giving him an option.

Handsome Jack liked to frequent the bars in the cities of Pandora when he was in a killing mood. Sometimes having his mechs do all the murdering for him just got dull. When nobody in his office needing offing, he would wonder through a few obscure bars until he heard someone bad mouthing him, or his methods, or the food, or anything, and shoot them, or if he was really in a good mood, strangle them. He had a fondness for feeling someone's throat crushing under his power. It was pretty bad luck to find himself in bar run by Moxxi, considering their history, but he was secretly curious about what she was up to these days.

Anyways, watching this hot little fireball of a siren talk back to Moxxi had fascinated him, almost a much as blasting that drunken lose out of the window. Sirens were rare and had always intrigued him.

Usually whenever he showed up, people had one of two reactions, either they started falling all over themselves to ingratiate themselves with him, or they tried to shoot him. He especially liked the second response, made it really easy to find some to strangle. Having a beautiful and gifted woman confidently tell him to dance with her, well that was a first.

She took his hand and he placed his other hand around her they started swaying to the music. He was a good dancer and he knew it. She was a good dancer too, he liked the way her hips swayed with his as they spun and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Suddenly the music stopped. Moxxi slammed her gun down on the counter. She gasped at the sight of Jack in her bar. "You get the hell out of my bar right now you asshole! And you" she turned to Celosia

"You get your tiny little freak hands off him!" Moxxi and Jack had a fling a while back, she could be a little possessive.

"Oh really? Make me." Celosia looked right at Moxxi and snapped her fingers. The counter top burst into a line of flames trapping Moxxi behind the bar.

"That was awesome!" Jack was grinning like a kid on Christmas. "Now make her burst into flames too."

"Nope, time to get out of here." Celosia grabbed Handsome Jack by the hand and dragged him out into the streets. Gunfire exploded out of the bar behind them as a squad of marauders, courtesy of Moxxi, charged out after them.

They stopped and turned around, Jack began blasting them with some sort of laser coming out of his wrist watches and Celosia sent a fire storm that swept the remaining few off of their feet and dropped them to the ground, burnt to a crisp.

"We make quite a team." Handsome Jack observed, with a mischievous smile. "Let's go blow more stuff up!"

"I'd like nothing better." Celosia could hardly believe it, but she was starting to really like this guy.

The strode out of town and made for Jack's personal buzzard. His pilot was waiting.

"Who is the chick?" The driver asked, practically drooling. Jack shot him in the head and tossed his body out of the buzzard. He put his hands around Celosia's waist and gave her a boost up into the aircraft and hopped in beside her.

He turned and kissed her feverishly on the mouth and then flew the buzzard up over the city and out over the waste land that is Pandora.

"You didn't need to kill the pilot." Celosia said quietly after reeling from the shock and intensity of the kiss.

"There are only two seats." Jack shrugged. "But I guess next time I'll just throw him out instead if that would make you feel better Pumpkin?"

"It would, yes." She nodded slightly. "And don't call me Pumpkin." She began to wonder what exactly she had gotten herself into. It had all happened so fast and now that she had a moment to think, she wasn't sure flying off with this psychopath to who knows where was the best idea after all. But there was still something about him that drew her like a magnet. She couldn't seem to take her eyes off him. She tried to watch the view go by, but found herself glancing in his direction often, hoping he wouldn't notice.

Of course he did notice, and he mentally polished his ego a little at the pleasure of her obvious fascination with him. Naturally anyone would be fascinated by me, he thought. But deep underneath his assumed bravado, he was surprised. He would never admit it to himself, but he didn't know anyone who genuinely liked him.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: This story, (not this chapter in particular, just the whole idea for my story) is partially inspired by the songs Bad Things by Jace Everett and Trigger Happy Jack, by Poe. If for some reason you are interested enough to want to get a feel for kinda where I got this from, give' em a listen. Plus they are pretty great songs anyways :-)

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As Jack piloted the buzzard over some bandit camps out in the depths of the arid Badlands, he had a minute to think. What was he doing flying off with this siren? He just met her. All he knew was he was feelings things he hadn't felt since...well he didn't want to think about that right now. He had a smokin' hot, powerful siren sitting next to him. There was only one logical thing to do. Take her to New Haven, the home of those scumbag Crimsons Raiders, and burn it to the ground!

"You like blowing things up right?" He smirked at Celosia.

"Well, yeah," she replied. "But I guess that depends on what exactly I am blowing up. For example I didn't mean to blow up Moxxi's arena. She was good to me and I felt terrible about that."

"Haha!" Jack threw his head back and laughed a deep rumbly laugh. "I have been meaning to blow that thing up forever. You did me quite a favor." Celosia gave him a reproachful look.

"Oh, I mean, bummer that must have sucked for you." He attempted a sympathetic look. Celosia could tell his face wasn't exactly used to that expression. She burst out laughing.

"Oh Jack," She crooned impulsively, "Let's do something fun. I haven't had any fun in a very long time."

"Fun like blowing stuff up?" He asked.

"Oh geez, is that all you ever think about? There are other ways to have fun you know." She gave him a sideways half smile that she hoped was seductive. Apparently it was, he abruptly turned the buzzard into a gorge with an abandoned shack. He made short work of a few bullymongs wondering around the area with his pistol and then practically dragged her out of the buzzard into the shack.

"I'm don't usually do this on a first date." She grinned coyly as she drew closer to Handsome Jack, she knew it was a cliché but hoped it would clarify her intentions.

Jack had a dozen clever retorts on the tip of his tongue, but suddenly he found his tongue otherwise occupied as the petite siren slid her smooth, delicate hands around his neck and pulled him down to her mouth and closed her lips around his. She found the mask to be perfectly molded to his face and it moved with him, as if it wasn't even there. She forgot all about it as his mouth responded to hers.

He picked her up effortlessly as her legs closed around his waist. The warmth from her body permeated through him and he was very aware of her supple bosom crushed against his chest, his breath quickened as he slipped his tongue into her mouth. Just then, a round of gunfire outside broke his mood and he dropped her suddenly. Damn bad timing, he thought.

"Stay here Cel." He ordered sharply. Through the cracked walls of the shack, he could just see a rather large bandit raiding party approaching his buzzard outside.

"Yeah right." she retorted, "You stay here, if they see you this will escalate pretty quickly. If they see me, well, at least the last thing they see will be a siren. It could be worse!" Jack chuckled as he admitted she was right.

Before he could move a muscle, she was outside. He peered out through the cracks. She was amazing. She moved so quickly, so smoothly. Every muscle in her body perfectly trained in her arts. He thought her motions were like a seductive dance, as her fire turned bandits and psychos to ash and they blew away on the wind. Suddenly a giant vortex of fire whirled like a tornado through the group tossing some aside like so much scrap paper, and drawing the rest up into it and spilling them out, charred to a crisp. Jack's jaw dropped in awe. Where had she been his whole life? Together they could be unstoppable. Within moments, the raiding party was decimated, and as the smoke cleared he could see Cel, crouched over, in the midst of the bodies.

He ran out to her. "Are you okay babe?" He asked, genuinely concerned, she looked very pale, well, more pale then usual.

She had taxed herself pretty good whipping out that fiery tornado. Knowing Handsome Jack himself was watching her, she had decided to show off a little and use some of her best moves from the arena. Snapping her fingers and lighting something on fire was one thing, but creating a moving object of fire itself and controlling it's movement was something else entirely. She could really use an Eridum fix right about now, but for some reason she felt too embarrassed to let Jack know about that.

"I just need a minute, I'll be fine." She tried to smile, but it was a weak attempt.

Jack's ECHO lit up and a message started coming through. "Uh, I'll be right back. You'll be okay for a sec?" He asked. Cel nodded, grateful not to have him staring at her awkwardly in her weakened state. He took the ECHO into the shack and she couldn't make out entirely what was going on, but Jack sounded very serious, almost angry, but when he came out, he was smiling.

"Well, Pumpkin, uh, I mean Cel. I just got some very important news on a project I've been working on for a while now. I have loved meeting you sweetie, but I've gotta go. Unless," he paused. Cel had managed to stand up, but looked as if she could topple over any minute. She wouldn't be much use blowing up a city right now, and oddly enough, he found that for a second he actually cared about her well being. He shook off the feeling quickly, like cold water after a shower. "I'll drop you off anywhere you like on my way out."

"Thanks Jack" Cel sighed slightly. "It's been fun." She managed a coy half smile, and he helped her back into the Buzzard and took off. In a few minutes they neared the camp she had made outside a small village.

"I'd better drop you off here," said Jack. "Wouldn't want to excite the locals too much."

"I get it." She held back the bitterness in her voice that this "date," if you could call it that, hadn't gone anywhere near according to plan. "See you round." She tried to sound cavalier. She knew she'd never see him again and for some reason that thought gave her an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I have loved meeting you my fiery siren, I'm sure we'll meet again." Jack winked as he took off in his buzzard. Yeah right, Cel thought. She walked into her cabin and flopped down on the hard, scratchy cot and was asleep before she knew it, dreaming of Jack and their almost-romance.

It was killing Jack to leave her behind. He had felt so alive with her, so whole. Watching her wield her powers was the most entrancing thing he had ever seen, and that kiss, wow. But he couldn't let some stupid personal feelings get in the way of his greater mission. He had to wipe the Crimson Raiders out of New Haven, and had to do it now, everything was in place and if they waited another day, it might be too late. If only she was not so weakened, she could have come along and shared this great moment with him, but as it was, she would only be a distraction. He would find her again, he promised himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: A warning to anyone who has not completed Borderlands 2, there are spoilers for the Angel storyline in this chapter, and any future chapters. Thanks for reading :-)

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Everything went according to plan for Handsome Jack. Well, almost, Roland and most of the raiders escaped, but at least Roland's pet siren, Lilith, was dead, and New Haven was destroyed. They were weakened and would have to find a new base. Hopefully he could manage to pick them all off before they regrouped.

It was late one night, cold and damp, as it always seemed to be in her little corner of Pandora, when she was awoken to her ECHO lighting up beside her bed.

"Hey there, beautiful, I hope I am speaking to the one and only Celosia the fire siren?" Jack's unmistakably arrogant voice came crackling through.

She stretched and eyed the ECHO suspiciously. "Who is speaking?" She asked, just to make sure.

"Its me baby, Jack, you know, Handsome Jack? We met a few of weeks ago."

"Woah, hold it right there, Jackie boy, I am not your baby! We kissed like once, forever ago, and then you disappeared. We barely even know each other." Cel was determined to sound indignant. She certainly didn't want him to know she hadn't been able to stop thinking about him.

"I love your spunk." There was that infectious grin, she could hear it in his voice. "And I am pretty sure we kissed twice. I'm so hurt that you forgot that. I suppose you heard about New Haven?" He asked cautiously.

"Yes, it was awful! I heard the whole place was practically burnt to the ground. And a siren was killed! I have been trying so hard to find another siren for my whole life, and now she's dead."

"Oh, um, about that. Those people were bad people Cel. They were a mob of filthy bandits trying to stop me from bringing peace to Pandora. They had to be stopped. The siren was one of them, she was too dangerous to leave alive." Jack hoped she would take his word for it.

"You mean it was you that destroyed New Haven? Wait, was that why you left in such a hurry after our, um, time together?" Cel knew she shouldn't be surprised. Everyone knew Jack's reputation. People were starting to say he was crazy. Maybe it was true.

"Well, yes it was me. Who else has that kind of fire power? Anyways, before I get carried away with the awesomeness that is me, I have to tell you something. Some Vault Hunters are on Pandora looking for me and they are very dangerous. I think they are aiding the remains of the Crimson Raiders to prepare a pathetic attempt at a resistance to my plans for saving Pandora and the utilizing the vaults. My point here is this, I won't be coming back onto Pandora for awhile. I gotta stay up here on my Moonbase and deal with them from a distance. But, um, I don't know how to put this...I just can't stop thinking about you Cel. I just wanted you to know. I hope to see you again." He wasn't used to being this vulnerable. He hadn't been since...nevermind.

"Wow. Ok. So that's a lot to take in. You want to see me, but you can't set foot on your own planet because everyone hates you so much?" Cel knew she could be a bitch sometimes, but well, if he was too cowardly to come and see her face to face, she figured he deserved it.

"You are quite the little spitfire aren't you? I'll be in touch." Jack turned off his ECHO.

"Wait Jack! I didn't mean it. Jack?" He was gone.

She didn't hear from Jack in a while, in fact her ECHO didn't get a lot of use at all, so when she misplaced it while traipsing around outside a mysterious city called Sanctuary, she didn't think too much of it.

"Hello my little fiery siren! I've missed you." Jack's voice came crackling through the ECHO.

"Did you hear that?" Lilith and Salvador were upstairs in their base. The ECHO they had found outside Sanctuary was suddenly lighting up and Jack's voice was coming through. "Salvador, I think he knows I'm here, how could he know that?"

The ECHO lit up again. "Celosia? Sweetie are you there? Are you okay?" Jack's voice sounded concerned.

"Who the hell is Celosia?" Salvador called into the ECHO. Lilith sighed deeply, every once and a while Salvador wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Oh crap." Jack recognized the Vault Hunter's voice.

Now the Vault Hunters knew there was another siren, and that Jack was looking for her, fantastic. He had to contact Celosia. If the vault hunters found her now, after that message, they would think she was connected to him and use her to get to him. He had to think fast.

"Angel!" He called through his ECHO. "I need you to phase-whatever-it-is-you-do and bring that siren, Celosia, up here to my base. Now! She's in danger."

"Dad, why do you care about whether or not she's in danger? You've never cared about anything like that before." Angel knew her father wasn't capable of love, or at least his version of love was certainly not how she thought love should be.

"Just do it Angel. I can't lose her. Not after..."Jack voice trailed off. He never could bring himself to think about his wife, after what happened to her.

In a matter of seconds a shaken and very surprised Celosia was laying awkwardly on a fast travel platform in a large docking bay. She looked around. A few dozen mechs were lined up, powered down next to a wall, and there were crates of ammo everywhere, but otherwise there was no one else in the room. She had no idea where she was until Handsome Jack burst into the docking bay where she had arrived.

"Jack?" Her voice came out a little more then an intake of breath. She forgot to be indignant for a moment, at the site of him all the feelings she had been trying to put behind came rushing back. Her whole body tingled as he approached and she ached for him to touch her again. She held back from rushing into his arms, what in the world was going on?

"Cel, you're okay." He stopped and looked her up and down. "And sexy as hell I might add." He winked suggestively.

"Okay, okay, where the heck am I? What happened?" Cel put her hands on her hips.

"My dear, you are on the Hyperion Moonbase. My home." Jack beamed as he gestured around himself.

The giant H for Hyperion had dominated the Pandora sky for as long a Celosia could remember. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined that she would one day be in it, far above the surface of Pandora. Let alone with Jack, as his guest, or whatever she was.

"As hard as it is for me to admit, I so rarely do anything like this, I may have accidentally, uh, put your life in danger." Jack clearly was not used to apologizing.

"What? I am very confused." Celosia decided honesty was the way to go. She was too shaken up to be snarky.

"I called your ECHO but somehow the Vault Hunters had it, so they heard me asking for you. If they found you and knew that you meant something to me, they would kill you or use you against me. I couldn't let that happen." Jack's words rushed out of his mouth, clearly he was very uncomfortable saying all this. But Cel didn't care, she had only heard one thing.

"Wait. I mean something to you?" Cel stumbled over the words. She had never meant anything to anybody.

Jack didn't answer, before she knew what was happening he was on her. He kissed her neck, and then slowly moved up to her ear, he breathed deeply, taking in the warm scent on her hair. She always smelled like a bonfire, and he loved it. His hands wrapped around her waist moving lower down her back as she leaned into him, relaxing into him, letting the tingly ache in her body take over as she gave into her desire for him.

She arched her back bringing raising her lips to caress his neck, then she grabbed his hair with her hands bringing his lips to hers. They locked passionately and she felt him tighten as he pushed against her harder. There was a desperateness in his movements now, as if he couldn't be close enough to her. He began to tear at her clothing. He ripped her top off and she tore at his jacket sending it to the floor. Clothes scattered everywhere. She fiddled with his belt buckle, she could feel him hardening beneath it as she pushed the belt aside and unbuttoned his pants.

He pushed her to the floor and she opened her legs for him, he leaned in and kissed her smooth, firm middle, making his way up to her bare breasts. She reached for his face to bring his lips up to hers and as she did she caught her finger in his mask and it tore off.

He jumped back and turning away suddenly, covering his face with his hands. Cel sat up and started to move towards him.

"No. Stop." Jack growled. "You can't see me like this. No one can see me like this. Get out!" He was screaming. "Get out now!"

She gently touched his shoulder. He spun around and lifted one hand to strike her while still covering his face with the other.

"Stop Jack. It's ok. I don't mind. I'm not afraid." She spoke with a gentle soothing tone. Something Jack hadn't heard from her yet, his hand stopped in mid air. "I want to see you Jack. The real you."

"No." He drew back. "You won't like it. No one does."

She reached up slowly and caressed his hand with hers. She gently began to lower it from his face. Her hand slowly, carefully, reached for his face. She stroked it softy. It was horribly scarred. The sign of the vault had been branded over his face and one of his eyes. She traced it tenderly with her finger. Jack had never had anyone respond to his true face this way. Hope flickered in his eye. Could she truly accept him this way? Was she the one he had been hoping and waiting for all this time?

He leaned forward cautiously. She met him with a kiss and kissed every one of his scars. He knew this was right. He gave into to his desire and as she lay back on the floor of the docking bay she beckoned to him and he entered her with a groan of pleasure.

She woke up, Jack was asleep naked, beside her on the cold hard floor of the docking bay. She was thankful he had mostly bots and mechs working for him. This could have been an awkward scene.

What the hell am I doing? She wondered. I just slept with Handsome Jack. I know who is, what he has done. There is no way this is going to end well. She hoped maybe she was wrong. Maybe he was just misunderstood. People tended to judge harshly those in power over them. Perhaps underneath the madness, he was a good man.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: If you have made it this far in my story, I officially love you :-) (p.s. there will be more chapters to come)

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Life with Jack up in the Moonbase was very different from life down on Pandora. For one thing, Cel did not have to fight for survival every moment of everyday. She didn't need to earn a living by killing things for people. There was plenty of food, albeit most was rather stale. There was a gorgeous pony made of diamonds. Jack called him Butt Stallion, B.S. for short, but Cel nicknamed him Buttsy.

Overall life was comfortable, but it could be boring at times. Jack, she discovered, was a little controlling. She was not allowed to have an ECHO. He said it was too dangerous and that the Crimson Raiders might discover her if she wasn't careful enough. And besides, he so kindly pointed out, she didn't have any real friends to communicate with anyways. She also wasn't allowed in his observation room. Ever.

"Jack!" She pounded on the door of his observation room. "Jack? Are you in there?"

"Yes. I'm busy. Go play with Buttsy, I'll be out in a couple hours." Jack snapped through the closed door. She waited. Apparently he was ignoring her now, and talking to someone through the ECHO.

"No Angel!" She heard him say, he was almost yelling. "Not now. Be a good girl and be patient." A woman's voice replied through the ECHO but she couldn't make out quite what she said.

Cel found herself wondering if she was the only woman in Jack's life. Who was Angel? She knew he communicated with the Vault Hunters fairly regularly but that was just to mess around with them. Even Jack got bored up here in the Moonbase and needed some kind of entertainment. Other then screwing her of course. But this Angel, this was different. His voice had an urgency that it lacked when he was talking to the Vault Hunters.

She wandered off to feed Buttsy and wait for Jack to finish tormenting the people of Pandora for the day. The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced Jack was hiding something important from her. Perhaps that even had something to do with why he wouldn't let her access an ECHO.

"Hey there Sexy." She turned to see Jack draped languidly against the door frame of Butty's stall. "I've missed you today. Lot's of business to take care of. But I've got a few minutes now." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"How many minutes exactly?" Cel teased with a half smile.

"Oh, how does forty-five sound?" He beckoned to her with his finger.

"Make it an hour." Cel fingering her lowcut neckline suggestively.

"How can I resist? Get over here." He smiled and drew her into his arms.

About an hour later she was sitting on his lap, stroking his bare chest absently as he twirled her hair with his finger.

"Jack?" She ventured cautiously, looking up into his blue and green eyes.

"Yes baby?" He droned euphorically, high from their love making.

"Who is Angel?" She sat up a little more so she could watch his expression. His eyes lit up, but he kept his voice calm.

"Oh, nobody. Just some bandit." He sounded perfectly relaxed, but by now Cel knew him well enough to see through that. He was definitely hiding something.

"Jack," She started. "Who is she really?" He interrupted her by sticking his tongue in her mouth. As far as distractions go, it worked pretty well. She forgot all about Angel. At least for the moment.

She woke up early the next morning. Jack was sound asleep next to her, his mask on the nightstand. She gazed for a moment at his face. Even now, he rarely took his mask off except at night. He was really ashamed of his scars and branding. She tore her gaze away from his face and reached carefully under the mask on the stand. Sure enough, his pass key to get into the observation room was there. Apparently he underestimated her curiosity.

She took the key and tiptoed out of his bedroom and down to the observation room. Swiping the key opened the door with a bang. And she froze. Nothing happened. She quietly closed the door and sat down at the desk in front of a large screen where Jack monitored any activity on Pandora that he could get footage from through an ECHO, New-U station, or Fast-Travel.

She spoke into the ECHO hesitantly. "Angel? Angel? Anyone there called Angel?" A beautiful girl's face appeared. "Hello? Dad? Wait, no, your not him...I have to go. Sorry."

"Wait! I need to speak to you." Celosia replied quickly. "Um, your Dad told me to contact you."

Angel paused. "He did?"

"Um, yes, he...uh...he wanted me to ask you where you are right now?" Celosia grasped at ideas for how to keep the mysterious Angel on the ECHO.

"I am sure he knows exactly where I am. He told me about you though. You're his other siren aren't you? The one who controls the element of fire?"

"Yes." Celosia answered, feeling very confused. "Wait, what do you mean by 'other siren'? Who are you?"

"Oh crap. I mean, sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I have to go." Angel clearly was afraid to speak to Celosia. "But before I go. I have to ask. Who are you to my dad? To Jack I mean. What do you do for him?"

"Oh sweetie I don't think you want to know exactly what I do for him. I mean, WHAT? Jack is your DAD? He never told me he had a daughter. Oh I am so going to kill him." Celosia felt rage flushing through her body. "And what do you mean by other siren? You're not one are you?"

"I might as well tell you everything." Angel sighed as she did just that.

"Wow." Celosia was speechless when Angel finished her story. "What a bastard! I can't believe I've been with him all this time and he never thought to mention that he had a daughter, and that his daughter was a freakin' siren! I've got to help you get out of there. It's not right for him to use you like this. Where are you?"

"No. I can't say. He'll be so angry, and when he is angry, people get hurt. Just leave and pretend we never spoke." Angel sounded desperate.

"Not gonna happen sweetie. I will help you. I promise." Celosia took the ECHO with her and crept back out of the observation room. But she did not go back to bed. She was not going to waste anytime and risk changing her mind, or risk Jack finding out what she was going to do. They were through. She was going to back to Pandora to find Angel and free her.

She made her way to the Fast Travel station and teleported back to Pandora. She arrived not far from Sanctuary. She could see it in the distance.

"Angel?" She called again through the ECHO. "I'm back on Pandora. I've left Jack and I am coming to free you, please, give some indication where I can find you?"

"I-I can't." She heard Angel's voice softly. "Be careful. Jack will not take kindly to what you have done."

"I can handle myself. Remember I am a siren."

"Well, if you are truly done with Jack, the next safest place is in Sanctuary with the Vault Hunters. I am sure they would be grateful to use your skills, if you can convince them to trust you." Angel replied. "Be careful."

Going to the Vault Hunters for help would certainly end things between her and Jack. Right now, Celosia was so furious with him that she was prepared to do anything, even that. She made her way toward Sanctuary.

Meanwhile, back on the Moonbase Jack woke up and stretched. He rolled over to kiss his lovely girlfriend, and discovered she was already up. He sat up and reached for his mask. Even with no one looking he preferred the mask to his own disfigured appearance. He noticed the missing key immediately.

"CELOSIA!" He screamed. "Where are you? What have you done?" He rushed into the hall and found the door of the observation room open and an ECHO missing. "That bitch. I never should have trusted her." He sat down at his observation table. "Angel." His voice had a warning in it. "Where did she go?"

Angel told him everything.

Back on Pandora Celosia felt the entire ground shake suddenly and heard a loud crash behind her. She turned around. Six loaders had shot out from the Moonbase. Handsome Jack's voice came through her ECHO.

"Good morning Pumpkin. What would you like for breakfast? Some french toast with a side of fresh BETRYAL? Come back up here and let's talk about this or by hell I will make you." The loader turned towards Cel and aimed, waiting for Jack's command.

"After what you hid from me, after I found out what you are doing to your own daughter, a siren, like me, I won't go back to you." Celosia stood her ground and prepared for the worst.

"Well, I don't take kindly to being broken up with over ECHO." Jack sighed peevishly and gave the order. He hated to do this, but people didn't call him a psychopath for nothing.

The six loaders started firing and two more smaller loaders shot down and started running straight for Celosia. She snapped her fingers and they burst into flames, begging for mercy as the disintegrated into smoking heaps of rubble. She made a wall of fire to keep the larger loaders at bay but they continued advancing. She pulled out her corrosive pistol and started firing as fast as she could. Just as the last one crumbled, ten more loaders shot out of the sky. They began to fire relentlessly, she began to focus her powers, she was ready to unleash the fire vortex, but she waited.

"Jack!" She called into the ECHO. "Really? I thought you cared about me! I trusted you and this is how you repay me?" There was no reply. She lowered her gun."Jack. I love you." Silence. And then a loader fired a shot through her head and another through her heart. She fell to the ground, dead.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Warning, spoilers for Where Angels Fear to Tread and mature content, yes more sex. If you've had enough of that, I'm marking it with lines so you can skip it and still follow the story.

Also: 10 points if you can find the Supernatural reference :-)

Thanks for reading! if you enjoy it, I'd be honored if you fav, comment, or whatever :-)

* * *

Jack watched as the small frame of his girlfriend lay bleeding out on the snow. He surprised himself by feeling a twinge of sadness and regret. Not something he felt often. He shrugged it off and fiddled with a few controls, triggering the transfer of her DNA to the New-U station in his docking bay. He looked at the screen again. Her body disintegrated. He rushed out of the observation room, down the hall into the docking bay. He stood by the New-U, his heart pounding with anticipation. How would she respond to being killed and digistructed by him? Probably not well. Good. He was pissed too. He waited, beginning to get nervous. He realized he would be devastated if something went wrong and she didn't appear.

Finally her digitally reconstructed form materialized on the platform. Her dark hair flowing long and loose around her slender pale shoulders. Her blue siren tattoos were striking against the fair skin of her arms and neck. He was struck by how beautiful she was to him. Not surprisingly, Celosia was less then happy to see Jack.

"Did you seriously just murder me so you could get me back in your house?" Her green eyes blazed indignantly and she held a ball of fire ready to throw.

"Well, I did ask you to come back nicely first." Jack shrugged. "You weren't being very polite."

"Oh, I wasn't polite? I told you I loved you and you had me shot in the head!" The fireball went flying towards Jack's face, he stepped casually out of the way, brushing the charred remains of it off the shoulder of his perfectly fitted jacket.

"Well, you had just hacked into my things, stole one of my ECHOs, and found out information I had not decided to reveal to you yet. Plus you were about to betray me to those filthy bandits! I didn't have a choice." Jack was beginning to lose his cool, his blue eye snapping with anger, his green eye expressionless.

"'Not decided to reveal' to me? Seriously that's what you are calling it? I call it lying. I can't believe I trusted you, even let myself care about you. Let myself believe you were capable of caring for someone other than yourself. And then find out how you treat your own daughter! You are a disgusting, sadistic, psychopathic, douche bag." She charged towards him, flames in her hands. He grabbed her arms and spun her slamming her into the wall pinning her hands by her head. The flames went out.

"Don't speak to me about my daughter as if you understood. I love her and I loved you, I didn't think I would ever love anyone else until you came along. I should never have tried. love doesn't suit me." Jack moved a long, slender, hand to her throat. He could feel her windpipe beneath the strength of his elegant fingers, he could feel her swallow as she struggled to breathe. So fragile, so easy to crush. Suddenly he felt his hand heating up. Smoke began to rise from his fingers.

"Bitch!" He swore releasing his grip and attempting to shake the burning sensation from his hand.

"Jerk!" She replied, meeting his gaze with defiance.

* * *

Before he knew what he was doing he kissed her violently on the mouth, his hands grabbing handfuls of her thick hair and holding her to him. She grabbed his belt buckle and ripped it open tearing his belt out and unbuttoning his pants. He let go of her hair and reached down, shoving his hand into her pants and he stroked again and again until she was wet and throbbing, desperate for more. He lifted her up enough to thrust himself into her. He thrust again and again, as if pounding her into the wall. She gasped, and cried out, the pain of before becoming unspeakable pleasure as the ecstasy washed over her like a drug. He came suddenly and forcefully with a guttural cry and together they collapsed onto the floor.

* * *

It all happened so fast, but when it was through, and they were laying there panting, half dressed, she knew. She knew that Jack was a monster. He was all the terrible things she had accused him of being. But she knew something else, she knew deep underneath all the crazy, was a man who was lonely and insecure and desperately needed to be loved. And she knew one more thing. She was on Pandora to be the one that loved Handsome Jack in spite of everything. She belonged to him, and that would never change.

Jack stared at the ceiling. For a moment there he hadn't known if he was going to kill her or screw her. Apparently he liked sex more then murder after all. At least with her. Ever since he lost his wife, he knew he would never love anyone. Sure, he'd had a few girlfriends, but nothing like this. This passion, this love that kept loving even after she betrayed him? People always said he was crazy, but loving her was a whole new kind of crazy for him. And he actually kind of liked it.

Things down on Pandora were escalating. The Vault Hunters had located Angel and were planning something terrible. Jack and Celosia had finally come to an agreement so she could use an ECHO. She communicated with Angel every day. She found out that Angel was very special siren. Her powers were amazing. Everyday Cel promised Angel she would work on Jack to convince him to release her from her bondage. But Jack continued to insist that Angel's powers were so strong and unpredictable that it would not be safe for any of them if she roamed free. He insisted it was for her protection and theirs that she stayed in her "throne" as he liked to call it.

At last the Vault Hunters and Roland made it to the place where Angel was being held. Jack watched in horror as they plotted to murder her, is beloved daughter, in cold blood, just to stop him from being able to charge the vault key.

"I can't believe how low those stupid bandits will stoop to stop me!" He shook his head at Cel. "Can you believe they would kill my little girl?"

"I don't know Jack. She seems to want it. Have you ever bothered to stop and consider what she might want for her own life? She has feelings and a mind of her own you know." Cel placed her hand gently on his shoulder and looked searchingly into his eyes. "What are you going to do"?"

"She's a young girl! She doesn't know what she wants. Everything is so dramatic with teenagers. They can't kill her, they just can't!" Jack fumed.

But they did, that siren, Lilith, that everyone thought had died, arrived to help. Despite Jack's attempts to thwart their plans, the cut off her Eridium supply and she lay, helpless and weak on the floor.

"That is it!" Jack screamed. "I am going down there."

"No! They'll kill you!" Celosia grabbed his hand.

"Like hell they will." He teleported into the room, Celosia still clinging to his hand. They arrived just in time to here Angel's final words.

"Dad. You're an asshole." And that was it. She was dead. Tears stung Celosia's cheek as she watched her only friend, released from this world. As she sobbed, Jack finally noticed she had come with him.

"You weren't suppose to come." He gasped as he saw her materialized beside him. "Stay out of this! You'll get hurt."

Jack grabbed Lilith and snapped a restraining collar around her neck. "Now that you have murdered my baby girl, I will have my revenge. This siren will take her place as I charge the vault key."

"No!" Celosia tried to pushed in between Jack and Lilith. "I can't let you take her. Use me. I can charge it for you, you don't have to kidnap her."

Jack fixed his eyes on Cel, still keeping a firm grip on the beautiful red haired siren. "I won't use you. I love you, I can't do that to you."

"You loved your daughter and yet you used her." Celosia argued. "I'm volunteering, you don't have to do this."

"And look how that ended! I won't put you in that kind of danger. I can't lose you too. Grab my hand let's go. I'll keep you safe and when this is all over, we can rule Pandora together!" Jack held his hand out desperately. "Take my hand! I love you!" Celosia hesitated.

The vault hunters stared, frozen for an instant in shock, they couldn't believe what they were hearing come out of Handsome Jack's mouth. This must be the siren Jack had called for on the ECHO all those weeks ago. No wonder they hadn't been able to find her. She was actually with Jack, and he cared for her? Weird. They moved quickly and grabbed the mysterious siren as Jack and Lilith disappeared.

Jack arrived in his Moonbase to find only Lilith beside him. "NOOOOOOOO!" He collapsed to his knees wailing like a madman, his face in his hands. Lilith almost felt a little sorry for him, almost. Until he turned slowly, menacingly, to face her. He spoke slowly and deliberately. "You bandits murdered my baby girl and as if that wasn't enough, you stole my girlfriend. You will all pay for this you filthy, rotten bandit scum." He stood up and started toward Lilith. "Now, I'll start with you." He growled, his eyes colder then ice, his mouth a grim line as he stepped closer. "To the vault."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's note: I'm aware that in the game there are a lot of quests that happen in between Angel's death and the Vault Hunters going to the Warrior, but in the interest if keeping my story moving, I am writing it as if they headed right there. I also I take some imaginative freedom with the New-U system, please bear with me if it's not exactly canon.

* * *

The Vault Hunters were reeling after what just happened. They had succeeded in stopping Jack from using Angel to charge the Vault key, but had it been worth it? Roland had been killed and Jack had taken Lilith to charge the key instead. All they had now was this mysterious siren who, despite that fact that she was clearly in some kind of twisted relationship with Jack, had tried to stop him from kidnapping Lilith.

They took the siren back to Sanctuary to regroup and decide what there next move was to be. They were hopeful that this siren might have some valuable intel they could use in taking Jack down. Perhaps if he really cared about her, they could use her as some kind of leverage. They were desperate enough to try almost anything.

Celosia was too shocked to do anything. She was stunned by the death of Angel, the murder of Roland, and Jack disappearing with the other siren. She couldn't believe the Vault Hunters had actually killed Angel just to attempt to keep Jack from charging that stupid key. Angel had done nothing but try to help them! Maybe they weren't the noble, heroic people she had thought.

The vault hunters immediately blindfolded her and handcuffed her with some fireproof handcuffs they obtained from Moxxi, who course would have something like that. The fact that they were hot pink and bedazzled with rhinestones didn't make them any less effective. She attempted to snap her fingers but with her eyes covered she couldn't aim and ended up burning a hole in her shoe. She tried again and caught Maya's pants on fire. That didn't end well. Maya summed all the strength she could manage and phaselocked her in the corner until she swore not to try anything else.

"Now, tell us about your relationship with Handsome Jack" The bulky little Vault Hunter called Salvador stood in front of her. She could hear the click as he cocked his pistol. "Yes, this gun is aiming at your face." He confirmed. "We need to hear everything about your relationship with Jack."

"Really? Everything? Ok, well the first time we made love..." Celosia couldn't help being a smartass even now.

"No, not that kind of everything." Maya stepped in. "Anymore funny business out of you and I am phaselocking your ass up in a very uncomfortable corner all night."

Celosia sighed. Again she had a chance to meet a siren, maybe learn a few things, but the circumstances definitely were against any siren to siren bonding she may have hoped for. She marveled at the bad luck that caused her to wait until her mid-twenties before she even met another siren but in a matter of a few months she had met three sirens, one of which was now dead, and the other two might happily kill her for all she knew.

As much as she didn't trust the Vault Hunters she really didn't want to kill them, especially Maya. Having another siren around was almost unbelievable to her and she couldn't bring herself to even contemplate hurting her. Her lover may be a psychopath but Celosia wasn't, and murder wasn't an option she was willing to consider. She would have to find another way to escape and return to Jack. An idea occurred to her. Maybe if she played the innocent victim, they would bring her with them when they went to confront Jack. Maybe if they thought she truly wanted revenge for the way he treated her, she could be there and save him.

"Ok, so I was his girlfriend. I suppose you already know that. But it was terrible." It was only a half-lie after all. "He lied to me! He never told me he had daughter. In fact he never told me the truth about anything! He used me, made me do horrible things." That part was a lie. "He pretended to love me to get to my siren powers. When he found out I wasn't powerful enough for him, he just ditched me. You saw! He wouldn't even use me to charge the key. But he doesn't know how powerful I really am. I hid the truth from him so he wouldn't take advantage of me. Please let me take you to him, I can help you defeat him! He is stronger and smarter then you can imagine. You need me."

"What do you think Maya?" Salvador turned to the blue-haired siren. "You're a woman, you must have dated before. Could this be true?"

"I don't know. We need to ask her some more questions, see if this story adds up." Maya turned back to Celosia. They continued to interrogate her for hours. As it turned out the Vault Hunters already seemed to know most of what she knew, she confirmed their data, careful not to let them in on anything possibly new that could help them. She just wanted them to trust her enough to bring her with them to face Jack in the Vault of the Warrior. Turns out they knew all about that already too. Jack had not been lying when he told her how dangerous they were. But at the same time she realized, they had to be pretty decent people, child-murdering aside. They could have killed her on the spot. If the situations had been reversed, that's probably what Jack would have done. In fact that is what he had done to Roland.

Finally the Vault Hunters dragged her over to Moxxi's new bar in Sanctuary. They instructed her and a few crimson raider to keep an eye on the siren while they figured out what to do. What a small world, Celosia marveled. She wasn't sure if being in Moxxi's bar was a good thing or a bad thing at this point, but she certainly didn't have a choice.

"Well, you sugary sweet little thing!" Moxxi greeted her. "Fancy you being dragged in here like this. When they were talking about a siren I knew it had to be you, though they never would tell me your name. Who would have thought, the siren that I named myself, dragged here in chains for conspiring with Handsome Jack. I remember when I saw you run off with him after almost burning down my bar. I can't believe you're still with him. I was afraid he'd of killed you by now!"

"Oh, he tried." Celosia said dryly, she didn't let on that he had succeeded.

"Really now? Was it cause you broke up with him?" Moxxi smiled bemusedly.

"Well, yes. How do you know that?" Celosia would have looked at her sharply if the blindfold hadn't been in the way.

"Oh, I just know Jack is all. He's like that. A little unpredictable sometimes, but I daresay the sex can be worth it!" She laughed harshly. "For a while."

"Don't talk about him like that." Celosia snapped, if Moxxi was attempting to make her jealous, it working more then she wanted to admit. Then she remembered she was pretending to want vengeance on him, not defend him. "Oh, I mean, you're right. It's not worth it anymore. He is a dick. He used me, he tried to kill me, he kept me around just to be his personal punching bag" Another lie. "I hope I get a chance to kill him sometime." She put on her most pouting expression. "I hate him so much."

"Uh huh." Moxxi was skeptical. She knew a thing or two about relationships, and this little firecracker was head-over-heels and no mistake. "If you want any advice from me sweetheart, you stay far away from him. If the Vault Hunters succeed, you should consider yourself lucky. Very lucky."

Moxxi thought about what Maya had told her about the events at Angel's bunker. It did seem out of character for Handsome Jack to refuse to use Celosia to charge the vault key. Either he just wanted to spite the Crimson Raiders by using their own siren for revenge, or he really did care about Celosia. Moxxi thought the first possibility was most likely, though a little weak, but on the chance that the second was true, Celosia should not be allowed anywhere near that vault. If the two of them worked together, the Vault Hunters might find themselves out matched.

She grabbed her ECHO and informed the Vault Hunters of her observations.

"Thank you Moxxi." Maya replied. "We agree, taking the siren with us is simply much too dangerous We cannot risk her turning on us and siding with Jack. Do you think you can keep her under control here? I'll phaselock her, but I can't promise how long it will last once I leave."

"Oh, I don't think she'll hurt me. We go way back." Moxxi replied confidently. "And if worse comes to worse, a bullet can kill a siren same as anyone else." She turned away from the ECHO and called over to Celosia "I don't mean it honey!"

"Hey I can still hear you Moxxi!" Maya called reproachfully through the ECHO. "If you can't keep her under control we may have to kill her so she doesn't try anything. Though I would hate to have to kill another siren. They seem to be dropping like flies these days."

"I can hear you too, you know!" Celosia called out indignantly. "I'm blindfolded not ear plugged."

"Well, maybe that was our mistake." Maya's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"If you would trust me we could be friends!" Celosia called back desperately. "You think I would turn on another siren? I broke up with Jack to try and save Angel. I didn't succeed because he held me captive after that. I would never turn on you! Please Maya. I'll help you get Lilith back. Think what three sirens could accomplish! We would be unstoppable." Maya hesitated. She wished she could believe Celosia, but she couldn't risk it. It sounded exactly like what someone with ulterior motives would say.

"I'm sorry. I wish it could be like that. I'll tell you what. You prove your loyalty by staying here with Moxxi until we get back. After we have finished our mission, we'll give you a chance. Ok?" Maya had made up her mind.

_After we have finished our mission_. Maya's words burned into Celosia's mind. _After they kill Jack, __after they take __my love __away._ Celosia couldn't bear to have that happen. But she had to play along. She had never taken on another siren and doubted she could, Maya was older and more experienced. A real Vault Hunter. If Maya killed her now, she would never be able to help Jack. She sighed and resigned herself to coming up with plan B. The New-U terminals. They didn't seem to know that Jack had set up her DNA profile in them even though she wasn't a Vault Hunter. That would be her way out.

The Vault Hunters packed up and headed off to the Vault of the Warrior for their finally showdown with Handsome Jack. Celosia hoped things would work in Jack's favor, he always seemed confident that they would, but after seeing how strong and prepared the Vault Hunters were, she had her doubts that he could defeat them all.

But at least she had a plan. And it was time to put it into action.

"Moxxi, you've got to let me go. I don't want to hurt you, but I have to be there with Jack!" Celosia whined, with what she hoped was a crazy sounding voice.

"I knew you still had feelings for him. I can't let you go. Those Vault Hunters are my friends. You've gotta stay here." Moxxi drew her pistol out from her cleavage and aimed it at Celosia. The other Crimson Raiders in the bar did the same. "Now you sit back and wait, or I'll have to do something I really don't want to do."

Celosia could hear the regret in Moxxi's voice. She really didn't want to kill her old friend, it was going to take a little more crazy out of her to make Moxxi desperate enough to pull that trigger. She strained against the phaselock, it quivered, without Maya there to hold it up it was weakening as she struggled.

"This phaselock isn't going to hold much longer Moxxi. You know I hate to do this too you again, but when I get down I'm gonna start some fires. I can't see so I can't promise not to burn your bar down by accident with all of us in it."

"Come on Sweetie. Jack can't have corrupted you so much as to murder all of us in cold blood! Just sit this one out. You'll meet a nice guy someday, you're still so young." Moxxi pleaded.

"I don't want a nice guy! I want JACK!" Celosia screamed as loud as she could as the phaselock gave way and she crashed to the floor. "And its not cold blooded murder if you are all pointing guns at me, its self-defense!"

She closed her eyes and focused. A small puff of smoke rose from the floor in front of the bar. It grew in to flames that began to spin. They rose into a vortex and began to drift over the floor igniting chairs and tables and a few Crimson Raider.

"Oh no you don't." Moxxi said backing up. "I recognize this trick, but I don't recognize you. The Celosia I knew is already dead." She pulled the trigger and Celosia dropped down dead for the second time.

Thanks to Jack entering her in the system, she respawned promptly at the nearest New-U right across from the Crimson Raider's headquarters. Everything was going according to plan. If only she could get to the Warrior in time. She summoned her strength and few up above Sanctuary, only to slam into the shields and crash back down to the ground. _Damnit! This is a complication I do not have time for. _She got up and brushed the grime from Sanctuary's filthy streets off. Then she kicked herself for being stupid. She had respawned right in front of a Fast Travel network terminal but now she was half-way across the city.

Celosia painstakingly crept through the ally ways and side streets back towards the terminal. Many agonizing steps later she finally arrived and using the terminal, teleported out, arriving just outside the Vault of the Warrior. A few dozen Crimson Raider bandits were guarding the entrance to the vault. She hadn't expected that but her adrenaline was high and she was almost excited for a fight. Celosia held out both hands blasting fire like water from a hose burning many. Then she drew her pistol and picked off a few that were still on fire. She had never killed so many people before, but nothing was going to stand between her and Jack now. She walked confidently through the remaining bandits pausing just long enough to snap her fingers sending them up in an explosion of flames and smoke and body parts. She marched into the vault.

The fight had delayed her longer than she had hoped and she knew the Vault Hunters had quite a head start now. She struggled down the path, weakened by the battle and flying all that way but determined not to let Jack down when he needed her the most. When she reached the center of the Vault, she was not prepared for the horrible sight. The four Vault Hunters were battling a great monster surrounded by lava spewing every where. Jack was no where to be seen, but at least he had managed to open the Vault and control the beast. There was hope yet that he was still alive. She crept down as close as she could and opened fire upon the Vault Hunters.

Maya spotted her first. She didn't stop to talk or ask how she got away, she simply lashed out with a burst of her phaselock power knocking Celosia out cold. She could have killed her, but she just didn't have the heart to take the life of another siren. Not now anyways when there were more important battles to fight.

When Celosia awoke, everything was quiet. She was furious with herself for being so useless. _How could I have been so careless as to let m__y__self be knocked __unconscious.__ Jack is probably dead because of me! _She got up and began to run toward the center of the vault. She saw a body lying face down amongst the rubble. She knew it had to be Jack. Sure enough, when she arrived, there he was. She fell down beside his body and rolled him over. His usually immaculate suit charred and full of holes, his mask was nowhere to be seen, and a bullet hole through his forehead confirmed the worst. She sobbed uncontrollably over his body.

"Come on!" She screamed. "Why don't you respawn! You idiot, just respawn already. I need you!"

She could feel his body growing colder and beginning to stiffen. She dropped him and ran over to the New-U station. She pounded on it desperately as if trying to beat his uninstructed form out of it. "Respawn you idiot!" Her voice was rasping and weak now. She ran back to his body, still cold, motionless, and dead. Something was wrong. It couldn't be happening.

The siren could feel rage against the Vault Hunters for murdering her love rise in her like the flames of which she was so fond. She thought of Angel, she thought of Jack. Everyone she had cared about was gone because of those Vault Hunter. She closed her eyes and held out her arms letting the fury take over. She soaked in power from the Vault as she concentrated. Flames began to circle Celosia and the body of her lover, they shook the vault, the fire scorching rocks and debris from the battle, Eridium that had dropped from the body of the Warrior flew towards Celosia and she absorbed it. She stood and her siren tattoos began to glow brightly through her clothing, her eyes were beacons of purple light. Then she was ready. She reached down and lifted Jack's body as if he were a child. Focusing her power, she did something that she had never done before, she phaseshifted them up into the Hyperion Moonbase.

They arrived in Jack's observation room. She collapsed on the floor. The phaseshift power was not her elemental specialty, she would never have been able to do that had they not been inside a vault that was practically vibrating with power and Eridium. All the same, it had taken a lot out of her and she was weak and trembled all over. Suddenly she remembered why she was there. She pulled herself up and over to Jack's desk. She opened the control system for the New-U system and searched for Jack's DNA profile. There was none. Then it hit her. Of course he never entered himself in the system. For all his brilliance he never considered the fact that someone might actually be able to kill him.

"Oh Jack." Celosia sobbed as she looked down at his stiffening corpse. "You and your stupid, stupid arrogance. How could you have been so short-sighted." She stood up and brushed away her tears. "Well I am not giving up on you yet. I have to save you so I can kick your ass for being so dumb!"

She ran as quickly as she could manage out of the observation room, past the bedroom and into Jack's bathroom, looking for anything that could have his DNA on it. She found his toothbrush by the sink and grabbed it and dashed back to the New-U. Her adrenaline was kicking in again as hope filled her heart. She rubbed the toothbrush against the DNA scanner and waited.

"Welcome to Hyperion's New-U Respawn system. You will never stay dead again. Please enter your name and the following details. Hyperion is not responsible for any malfunctions of the New-U respawn station." The computer went on and on but Celosia stopped listening as she quickly filled out the form and pressed enter. She waited. Nothing happened. Then the computer' voice again.

"It appears the individual you have just entered is currently deceased. Please press 1 if you would like to respawn them now. Please press 2 if you would like to respawn them later. Please press 3 if you would like to delete them from the system so they will never respawn to bother you again."

Celosia frantically pressed 1 and then ran out into the docking bay to the New-U terminal to wait in hopes that Jack would successfully respawn. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Jack's body began to materialize on the platform. When he fully appeared he collapsed to the floor. Celosia rushed to his side and lifted him up into a sitting position.

"Jack? Jack? Can you hear me?" She spoke tenderly and she gazed hopefully into his eye.

"Wha...what...what the hell happened? Didn't I die? The Vault, the Warrior! Those damned Vault Hunters. Where am I" Jack babbled confusedly as he looked around him. Finally he focused on Celosia. "You? You...saved me? How, I mean, you weren't there... you really saved me?"

"Sort of." She pointed to the New-U terminal.

"I did die! Wow. I never thought those bandits would get the best of me. Wait a minute. I never thought they could do it. I wasn't in the system." He looked at Celosia in wonder.

"It doesn't matter right now." She smiled. "I'm just happy it worked and here you are!"

"You are full of surprises my little siren." Handsome Jack smiled too as he stood up and turned to Celosia. He reached out and brushed a loose strand of dark hair away from her face as he gazed into her deep green eyes. "Those pathetic Vault Hunters may have won this round, but I am far from defeated. With you by my side, they don't stand a chance." He leaned in and took her in his arms and they kissed long and tenderly.


	7. Epilogue

And so the Psychopath and the Siren lived happily ever after...or did they?

Thank you to all who read my little story! I am already cringing as I go back and reread the earlier chapters so I will probably be editing them a little in the near future, at least to fix the obvious typos. I have some ideas for a sequel involving Jack and Celosia kicking some vault hunter ass together, but I guess we'll see if my motivation lasts


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